Argentina's top PVC producer to expand capacity

By: Bob Moser

June 27, 2014

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA — PVC Tecnocom SA, Argentina’s leading producer of PVC compounds, paneling and tubing, will debut 1,500 metric tons of new monthly production capacity in July, transforming it into one of the continent’s top two producers, the company’s commercial director told Plastics News during Argenplás.
Founded in 1978 and based near Buenos Aires, the company generated roughly $100 million in sales in 2013, on par with 2012, via production of about 8.26 million pounds per month from three plants.

Exports total close to 1,000 metric tons per month, focused mainly in the Mercosul region, with Brazil accounting for 700 metric tons of PVC compounds, paneling and tube per month.

PVC Tecnocom’s current total production capacity is 4,000 metric tons per month, but in July the company should debut expansions which push that figure to 5,500 metric tons, making it the second largest producer of PVC compounds in Latin America, behind only Brazil’s Karina Ind. e Com. de Plásticos Ltda, said commercial director Eduardo Estevez.

“We invested roughly $1.8 million last year, and expect this expansion to produce big gains for PVC Tecnocom in the Latin American market,” Estevez said in an interview at Argenplás in Buenos Aires.

The family-owned company is now exploring commercial property options throughout Argentina for the potential purchase and construction of a new mega-plant that could meet or exceed the joint production capacity of all three existing PVC Tecnocom plants, under one roof.

At least 60,000 square meters of space is being sought, and the company has talked with local governments in at least three cities in recent months, said Estevez, who declined to specify locations of interest. If seen through, the project will take at least three to four years, he added, and it’s undecided whether PVC Tecnocom would sell its existing plant properties afterward, or continue operating them in addition to a new plant.

The company will likely need to finance as much as a third of the cost of such an acquisition and construction project, but with Argentinean private banks offering loans with adjustable interest rates of 30 percent or more, PVC Tecnocom will take its time studying all lending options, Estevez said. An international lender or private investment partner could be the best solution, he added.